The Lift Reserve Indicator has been given extensive scrutiny by both the AOPA Air Safety Foundation and Cessna's engineering department. John Sheehan, recent director of the flight instructor department of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation has been flying in the Foundation'sTurbo Centurion installed with a Lift Reserve Indicator for about a year and a half:

"We took some low-time pilots who had never flown a 210 and had them fly the LRI in the pattern, disregarding the airspeed indicator. Believe it or not, they made good landings first time around, and in one case, there was a good-sized crosswind.

Then we covered up the LRI and told them to fly with the airspeed indicator using book value. They kind of messed it up because they were going way too fast and floated, and had to fool around with the flare. Things like that happened.

Acting as instructor pilot, I've flown with maybe 20 people who were using the LRI for the first time, and I've never seen anybody really chase it. I've never seen them prang the airplane unless they overrotated into the flare, which some people do. The big thing was, they didn't float, and they had much more precise glideslope control than they would have had otherwise."

..."I'm pretty positive about it [LRI] right now. I don't see anything about it, if it's properly installed and calibrated, that could lead you astray. On the contrary, I think it would be a positive safety asset in the airplane, especially for the heavier airplanes - the 200 series and twins. It would help you obtain maximum landing performance safely under all conditions.

One other thing:

I think it could be a very valuable device for training. For the first time, you've got something that will really show the student angle of attack. You're not asking him to use his imagination. The [LRI] has all the instincts of an angle of attack indicator, so you can show him what happens in a high speed stall. I think anybody learning to fly would be safer in an airplane equipped with one of those instruments."